James swore as soon as Sirius mentioned the pits passage, as they had sorta forgotten about exploring it using James's broom so immediately he grabbed his carrying case and the four of them took off, Remus a little slower behind the others as he tried to figure out the best way to get out of riding on James's broom. I can be lookout, he decided, hoping they'd accept that, doubting they would.

They reached the fourth floor, the portrait complaining very loudly as they forced it aside. The portrait was still threatening them quite violently as it swung shut behind them.

"Lumos," all four boys chorused, their wands lighting up at various intensities, all four different colors; James's was a pure white, Sirius's had a blue undertone, Peter's more sort've grey, while Remus's was more golden. They went down the stairs, across the first pit, then reached the second. Remus knew what was on the other side however would have to pretend he didn't; of course, when he had cried in here after Dedenne's spew of hate it was all a blur so he probably didn't really remember it all that well.

"All right." James handed his wand to Sirius then set the case down to get his broom out. Remus swallowed, trying not to step back when the silver came into the air. "Who's first?"

He flew Sirius over, then Peter, then came back for Remus who did step back. "Um, I was thinking I should stay here and be lookout?"

"What? No! Come on," James said, patting the broom.

"Um, I just think someone should stay here," he said, rubbing his arms.

"I know you hate flying but it's just for a couple seconds," James argued. "I won't drop you down the pit."

Remus swallowed, forcing himself to look at the pit as if that were the problem and not the silver on the broom. "I can't even help with the potion anyway, so there isn't much point..."

"Just get on the broom, Brains," James snapped.

Remus took in a deep, shaky breath, not sure if he'd be protected by the denim he was wearing. He never tried to touch silver before through cloth. He held his silver potions knife wrapped in leather but he always held it by the handle which didn't have silver in it. He had never held sickles before in cloth. So there was every chance he could get on that broom and that the silver's affect pushed through the denim and—and did whatever it did. Of course, if he was very careful he could position himself on the broom so he wasn't touching the silver...

"Come on, Remus," Peter called from the other side of the pit. "It's okay, you can do it!"

"I—I am!" He put his leg over the broom behind James, keeping an eye on the name written along the handle, the strap of silver holding the twigs into place. He sank down, putting his arms around James, very stiff with his seat. "All right."

"Merlin's beard, took you long enough." James pulled his broom up, flying swiftly across the pit, then landing. "Oh wow that was so scary!" he gasped out in a mocking sort of way, pretending to faint off the broom which dropped to the floor since Remus wasn't holding it at all.

"Shut up," Remus hissed, stepping quickly away from the broom while James just giggled next to it.

They looked around the little area, Peter screaming when he found blood smeared inside one of the little recesses. Remus's blood. He didn't say that, of course; merely acted just as surprised and spooked. Once the area was thoroughly explored they went over the next pit, Remus taking just as long getting on the broom as before. This time the passage branched off. They chose a direction, went down a nice little hallway with a very old, dusty rug, finding a pit at the end. They backtracked and went down the other side to find it a dead end, a huge painting of a sleeping dragon. They returned to the pit and crossed over.

"This place is so weird!" Peter broke the silence as they went down a new corridor.

"What's it even for?" Sirius wondered, putting his hand against the wall where a large chunk of stone had fallen out. "What's with the pits?"

"Last time we were here James suggested it had been destroyed, and I agree with that theory," Remus said, crouching down by the next pit. He shone his wand light down into the darkness but didn't see anything. "The pits just don't make sense. At all. What is that spell..." He rubbed his forehead, searching his brain for the spell he had read about over the summer in passing. "There is a spell where one can cast an orb of light and leave it stuck there. Ummm..." He snapped his fingers. "Magelight! At least, that's what it's called I'm not quite sure what the actual proper spell itself is. I'll have to research that, perhaps we can throw it down one of these pits. That way we can see how far it goes down, if it's any safe, if it—"

"YEEEEEEHAWWW!"

James suddenly did a flip above him then dove down into the pit on his broom.

"JAMES!" Remus screamed, jerking forward as his friend disappeared into the darkness.

"Merlin what an IDIOT!" Sirius said, hurrying over with Peter, both of them grabbing Remus since he was right at the edge. "JAMES!"

"I'm okay!" James called from the darkness. "Lumos." White light lit up several feet down, revealing James hovering. He gave them a thumbs up. "If I come up there, someone want to join me?"

"No!" Remus and Peter said at the same time Sirius said "Hell yeah!"

James drew himself up so Sirius could climb onto the broom behind him, lighting up his wand. "I could fly one handed, but I'd rather have both hands for this just in case," James explained then saluted Remus and Peter. "Be back soon!"

They descended down into the darkness. "They're idiots," Pete sighed, inching a little farther from the edge though continuing to hold on to Remus's sleeve.

"Extreme idiots." Remus watched them go down farther and farther. "How deep are these things?"

"Maybe they go all the way down to the dungeons?" Pete suggested.

Remus tried to think about what was beneath them on the second floor but couldn't really put together a picture of the castle. "We really need a map," he said.

"Is there one?" Pete looked at him with wide eyes. "I mean, in a book in the library?"

"I—I don't think so. Not in any of the ones I've read at least... I can do some research."

Pete snorted. "Do you ever... not do research?"

Remus stuck his tongue out then looked back down. "You all right?" he called down.

"Dandy!" James called back up. "I think we've reached the end though. Yeah... yup, here's some floor."

Remus heard scuffling as they got off the broom. He could see them standing about a floor and a half down. It seemed weird for the pit to end just there. Maybe Remus was wrong about the distance however it really did seem to end between floors.

"What do you see?" Pete asked.

"Not much," Sirius said, waving his wand around while James lit up his own. "It's just a pit."

Remus resisted the urge just to jump down. "Come get us," he said.

"What?!" Peter looked up, face paling. Remus raised his eyebrows and Pete sighed in a resolved sort of manner. "Y-yeah, come get us..."

Soon all four were down in the pit. Remus ran his wandlight along the jagged walls. "It appears as though someone literally blew a hole in the floor," he said, circling the small area. "Except the floor is far too smooth." He crouched down, running his fingers along the stone. "It's as if this is a floor... Plus... the walls aren't right. I mean, if someone blew a hole in the floor there would be... floor underneath. Like, we'd be in a hallway, or a room. Not with stone walls all around us." He went back to the wall, pressing his hand against the jagged stone that made up the sides of the pit. "Why would there just be a huge pillar? Yes, that's it. It's as if someone blew a hole down into a pillar, so everything around it is still completely stone. Or as if we were on the ground floor, and this were the foundation? But that makes no sense whatsoever for being so far up! It's almost like a... a shaft. Why would something like this even be here if—"

"This is boring, let's get back to exploring," James said, cutting Remus's babbling off. He didn't even wait for Remus to answer, just took Sirius back up, then Pete, then finally Remus who reluctantly went as he wanted to look around the pit some more.

There were more pits though they didn't take over the entire floor so they were able to skirt around them. Down one of the pits Remus could faintly hear sounds though his friends kept going so he couldn't stop to listen in. They passed by locked doors which they decided to check out later, then came across a weird section of wall. It was definitely a secret exit, as it looked like a hole in the wall with something covering it. James pushed at the object, tugging at it as best he could, until finally it shifted. They tumbled out, finding themselves in the trophy room.

"I see someone's found the passage again!" a voice said behind them. They turned to look at a portrait of a man with a very wide mustache, looking down at them. "Surprised you came from that end, honestly. Gilbert Ward doesn't like intruders. Honestly, what's the point in hiding secret passages if nobody ever uses them? Not many people, of course. However once in a decade would be nice!"

"You're Brutus Scrimgeour!" James exclaimed excitedly.

"In the paint!" the portrait said. "Now, I'm not supposed to tell anyone this however since you've already found the passage, I suppose I could tell you the password to get in from my end. Beati pacifici!"

"Beati pacifici," Peter repeated, and the portrait slid aside. "Cool."

The portrait moved back into place. "Is there a password for the other side or do we have to push him every time?" James asked.

"There is a password but it's not mine to give out," Scrimgeour replied, twiddling with the end of his mustache. "Now, I have places to be. Good day!" He shifted and sidled out the side of the painting.

"Brilliant," laughed Sirius. "Now we have another way in. We can go explore more later."

"And we also know nobody uses the secret passage," Remus pointed out, "so we can use it for the potion." James clapped him on the shoulder. "So, how do you recognize Brutus Scrimgeour?" Remus inquired as they left the trophy room. "I would not have."

"He wrote the Beater's Bible," James replied. "Wait, how do you know who he is?"

"He—he was a headmaster here," Remus said slowly, confused as to how his friend knew who the man was without knowing that. "You... didn't know?"

"Nope!" James shrugged. "Come on, we have to go get the carrying case from the other end of the passage. I cannot wait to explore it more, and explore more of those pits!"

Remus didn't really want to admit that he wanted to do the same. He really wanted to know what happened in those passages, what caused those pits. Why did they exist? Why was it all blocked off when it looked like it was a regular corridor for the most part? When was it blocked off? He definitely needed to do some research!

/\/\/\/\/\

Remus dropped a pile of books on the table with a heavy thud. "All right, so I have a project I was hoping you could help with."

It was Monday evening after study group, and Remus had asked Lily and Silverlocke to stay behind. Everyone else had already left so he was able to talk freely.

"What sort of project?" Lily asked.

Remus sat down, unstacking the books so he could spread them out. They were all about Hogwarts. "I... probably shouldn't even be discussing this, they will probably murder me however I suspect this is going to be a difficult task. I would appreciate the help but do not expect it. If you do not want to, I completely understand."

"Murder you?" Silverlocke raised an eyebrow. "Sounds quite dramatic."

Remus smiled. "My friends can be dramatic. In any case..." He dropped his voice, leaning in so he could whisper. "We found... a secret passage."

"Oooh!" Lily propped her elbow on the table, her chin in her hand, eyes sparkling. "A secret passage? What kind? Where?"

"I—I can't tell you," he replied with a cough. Lily frowned which immediately sent a stab of guilt through him. "Oh come on, they—they'll be angry if I do. I'll talk to them about possibly telling you... So that—I mean, because of this I'll also understand if you're not wanting to help."

"What do you need help with?" Silverlocke asked, taking one of the books. "If you have already found it I am a little confused as to what you could be looking for."

"Well... it's... destroyed. Sort of." Remus opened one of the books, a brief history of the school's architecture though he doubted it would reveal much. "There are all these... pits. Like someone blasted the floor apart. Something very powerful happened there, and I'm hoping to discover what."

"Blasted pits into the floor?" Lily straightened up. "Is that possible to do to the castle?"

"Apparently so." Remus flipped through the pages, not even sure what to look for. "We need information about corridors on the third floor."

Silverlocke looked rather excited as he opened his book. "Sounds fascinating. Someone destroying part of Hogwarts is quite the improbability."

"I thought so too," Remus said, bending in as Lily opened another book. "I've started rereading Hogwarts, A History for the umpteenth time last night though I am sure I never read anything about destruction..."

"Any idea of when the destruction happened?" Lily asked then sighed when he shook his head. "Figured not."

"There are loads of paintings in the corridors but none with people I can ask," Remus murmured, the pages sliding under his fingertips. "But I could possibly ask other paintings if they've been there."

"Ask the ghosts as well," Silverlocke suggested.

"I have asked a few I can trust." He stopped when he reached some information about the third floor. "Myrtle has no idea what I'm talking about, and Theodore won't talk about it."

"What about Nearly Headless Nick?" asked Lily.

"I—I wasn't sure about trusting him. I mean, I really like Sir Nicholas, don't get me wrong, however he is our House Ghost so I was a little worried about asking him. We're not even supposed to be in there." Remus scanned a second time through the text then, finding really nothing, moving on to the fourth floor in case there was mention about the entrance. "Honestly if anyone knows anything about it I'd think it'd be Peeves but asking him for anything is like asking to be turned into a toad."

"A pink toad," Silverlocke added, eyes dancing with amusement.

"A pink sparkly toad," giggled Lily.

They spent the next several minutes just looking through the books when suddenly Silverlocke shut his. "If there is destruction in the corridor, a likely probable cause would be a duel. Perhaps we should be doing some research into duels that have occurred here?"

"Professor Prewett would probably know something about that, I could ask him," Remus said, tapping his chin. "Thanks."

Silverlocke smiled then opened another book. The three of them went through multiple books, taking down dozens of notes, then left about fifteen minutes before curfew. Remus thanked both of them several times before they split up, Silverlocke to the Slytherin common room, Remus and Lily to Gryffindor.

When they reached the third floor, Lily stopped. "Where is it?"

"Where's what?"

"The secret passage."

Remus gulped, taking a nervous step back from her. "Lily, I-I can't show you. They'd be mad."

Lily shrugged, flipping some hair over one shoulder. "You always do what they say?"

"...no," he finally said, twisting his fingers into the bottom of his vest. He didn't want to disappoint Lily but he also didn't want to betray the other Marauders. "I just can't."

She reached out, tugging at his sleeve. "Please?" She widened her lovely green eyes. "Please? I've found a few hidden passages but I'd love to see a real, proper secret one! Please? Plleeeasse?" She tugged harder at his sleeve.

Remus groaned loudly and, knowing she won, Lily squealed, jumping up and down. "Come on, we have to go to the fourth floor. You cannot tell anyone about this."

"I won't but why the fourth floor? You said it was the third floor."

"It starts on the fourth," he explained, hurrying along since they didn't have too much time because of curfew. They arrived at the portrait of Gilbert Ward who protested furiously as Remus shoved the portrait aside. "If you'd give me the password, I wouldn't have to shove."

"Rude! Children should be seen and not heard! Preferably not seen as well!"

Remus and Lily climbed through the hole, Remus turning his wand on as soon as the portrait snapped back shut. They went down the steps and to the first pit which Remus showed Lily how to cross over. Then they reached the next one. "This is where it ends," he explained, holding up his wand.

Lily crouched down, peering into the darkness. "I thought you said you explored it a lot? How could you have if there's a... pit? Why is there a pit?!"

"That's why I want to research," Remus said, crouching down as well. "Isn't it weird?"

"Incredibly," she agreed. "It does look like it's been blasted. Which is so bizarre! Again, though, how did you get by?"

He couldn't help but smile at her. "Marauder secret."

"Mmhmm." She narrowed her eyes then looked at the pit, then back at Remus. "Might the Marauder secret also be called a StarShooter?"

"It might," he admitted, reaching out to take her sleeve this time. "Now come on, it's nearly curfew."

She followed him out quickly, the two of them going as fast as they dared to the tower. Remus kept his ears out, holding Lily back whenever they neared someone, then going back to running when they were in the clear.

"Have you found other passages?" she asked as they went. "My friends and I have found a few but I think they're not as secret as that one!"

"We've found a few," he admitted. "Mostly James and Sirius have found them." He made her slow down as they turned a corner, walking past a group of sixth year Hufflepuffs, all of whom looked down their noses at the two second years.

"How can you hear them?" Lily whispered when they started running again.

Remus swallowed heavily. I'm being so slack again, he realized miserably. "Intuition I—I suppose," he got out, hoping that was enough of an answer.

"Marauder intuition?" she teased.

That caused him to laugh. "Perhaps. I... I think out of the four of us I have the best. I suppose that's why they choose me to be lookout more often than not."

"And you're okay being lookout?"

"What do you mean?"

She slowed down even though there wasn't anyone else around. "I just... sometimes it worries me that—that they push you into doing things sometimes. Things you wouldn't do without them." Remus stopped walking completely and Lily looked distressed. "I'm sorry, I—"

"You're right," he said which surprised her. "They do push me into doing things I normally wouldn't do. In a good way. If... if I never became friends with them all I'd ever do is sit in my dorm and read or study. I wouldn't be doing things." He began tugging at the end of his sleeve, hoping he was articulating himself well enough. "But they never force me to do things I really don't want to do. I promise. If I don't want to be involved in something they're doing, they're okay with that. And I'm okay being lookout. I prefer being lookout most the time anyway."

Lily studied him for a second then hugged him tightly. "All right. I just wanted to make sure they weren't... you know."

Remus gave a quick hug back. "They're not. They're terrific friends. Now let's go, we really need to hurry to get back before curfew now!"

They made it to the portrait at exactly eight, out of breath but in the clear.